Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 113936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
But there was also no sign that any wolven had been back to the mountain, either. The fire pit was cold, there were no scents of food, and no one was moving around the territory.
It was deserted.
As Apex and Mayhem joined him, he said, “We head down the mountain searching for him. It’ll be a needle in a haystack, but we can try to find clues—”
“He’s at the prison camp.” Apex looked back at the den’s entrance. “Or he’s dead. Those are the only two possibilities and I don’t want to waste time fucking around out here if they’ve got him. I want to go to the source of the greatest harm.”
Kane cursed. “But you don’t know if he’s in there.”
“I can sure as hell find out—”
“Not on your own you can’t—”
“Fuck you—”
Riding a surge of adrenaline that would have been impossible to comprehend, much less generate, just a couple of nights before, Kane grabbed a hold of the other prisoner’s jacket and crammed his face directly into the other male’s.
“You think you’re going to help him if you get yourself killed? If you want to save him, you’re going to be smart about it. You’re going to search this fucking mountain with us, while Lucan gets back on his feet. And then the four of us can go together. But what is not going to happen is you going there alone.”
Apex shoved him off and paced around. “They’ll kill him if they’ve found him.”
“Then what does it matter if you wait long enough to get proper backup. The four of us together can go.” Damn, he wished the Jackal were still around. “We will go together first thing tomorrow night if we can’t find him. But if you get ahead of yourself, you’re not helping him—you’re a liability I’m going to have to solve.”
“I can’t do this. I can’t bear… this.”
The admission was spoken roughly, in the kind of way that someone did when he was talking to himself.
“I’m not going to do this.”
Kane shook the male. “No, we search the mountain in case he’s injured and hiding. And then we go to the prison camp tomorrow night when we have more backup.”
“Yeah, sure. Whatever.”
When Apex broke off, Kane let him go, and he wasn’t surprised when the male just walked down the trail.
“We’re not finding the guy out here,” Mayhem said. “It’s worse than a waste of time. It’s dangerous, because who the fuck else is on the mountain? And as for Apex, I don’t think we’ll see him again tonight and he’ll either show up tomorrow or not. We can still go to the prison camp tomorrow at dark, though. You’re right. We need Lucan—because maybe we’ll end up rescuing them both.”
Great. Something to look forward to.
Kane glanced around. The sense that time was running out struck him clear as a bell, not that he could pinpoint the why of the sudden feeling of dread.
But he couldn’t ignore the premonition of doom.
CHAPTER FORTY
Well, he’d kept his promise. But Kane wasn’t really back.
As Nadya glanced at him, again, he was staring off into space, his eyes full of shadows. They were upstairs in the garage, leaving the others down below. He had been silent since he’d returned from looking around the mountain for Callum. And likewise, Mayhem hadn’t been his usual chatty self; especially after the pair of them had spoken to Lucan, who’d nodded and then gone really quiet as well.
“Are you okay?” As soon as the question left her, she wanted to take it back because she’d already asked him that. Twice. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to—”
“Do you ever feel like you’re out of time?”
A chill went through her, and she blurted her biggest concern: “Are you all going back to the prison camp? Is that where you’re going next.”
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie.”
“That’s not what’s on my mind.” He rubbed his face. “There’s something I have to do after this. And you know what it is…”
“Cordelhia.” When Kane looked up, she shrugged. “You don’t need to explain. What’s changed, really.”
Except for everything, she tacked on to herself.
“I want to clean the slate,” he said. “And find her killer.”
“You sound apologetic. And that’s totally unnecessary.” When he started to shake his head, she interjected, “We had sex today. A couple of times. It’s not surprising your shellan is on your mind.”
When he didn’t reply, she felt like she was losing him, even though he was right in front of her.
“I made a vow to myself,” he said. “That I’d find her murderer. The only thing I know is that it wasn’t me.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“I’ve got to start somewhere. I think I need to go to her brother’s. Assuming he’s still alive.”
As pain speared through her, Nadya stood up and wandered around, looking at the tools and oil cans, the gasoline jug, the spare tires and chains. Inside her chest, she was arctic cold, but she tried to stay grounded in what they’d found together. The closeness. The connection.